In Figure 2-3 there is a grid of lines behind the pica characters so you can see how they are designed. As you look at these characters, you can see three rules that govern their design: the column on the right side is always left blank so there will be spaces between the characters on a line; no character uses both the top and the bottom row, and a dot can be placed on a vertical line only when the columns next to that line are not used. Figure 2-3 . Dot matrix characters Near Letter Quality (NlQ) Mode The preceding examples are in the MPS 1000 draft mode, but the MPS 1000 also has NLQ (Near Letter Quality) mode.
The NLQ letters are more fully formed than draft letters because they are made up of many more dots. Two differences between draft and NLQ printing enable the MPS 1000 to print such a large number of dots for each character. In NLQ mode, the head moves more slowly, so dots can overlap horizontally. Each character is printed with two passes of the print head. To further ensure the quality of NLQ characters, both passes of the print head are in the same direction so the alignment of the dots is exact. Because NLQ mode uses two passes for each line and prints only in one direction, your printing does take longer in this mode.
NLQ mode prints 20 characters per second (cps), rather than 100 cps in draft mode. With the two modes, draft and NLQ, the MPS 1000 lets you choose high speed or high quality each time you print. You can print your ordinary work or preliminary drafts quickly in draft mode and use the NLQ mode for final copies or special purposes. 28 • • • • • - - -- • • • • -- 11 I 1• Ill - ·- I •1